"Spring
Garden Music" began in 1982 as the name Jack Wright gave to a bunch
of raucous improvisers from Philadelphia with whom he was playing. Some
of these musicians lived in a house on Spring Garden Street, which the
40-year-old saxophonist (now 74) had bought it in '77. It was an uninhabitable
shell that he put back into shape, now known as the Spring Garden Music
House. SGM also became the label of his first record and subsequent
recordings, and then more generally for the adventure of himself and
his musical partners. His playing expanded and changed as he criss-crossed
North America, and also Europe, adding partners from everywhere, in
performances and private sessions. Jack disappeared into the wilds of
Colorado for fifteen years (among other things, painting, such as the
one above), returned to the East Coast in 2003, and now lives in nearby
Easton PA. He has been able to stock the house mostly with improvisers,
ready to receive visitors interested in like-minded musical experiences.
An earlier generation of these appeared in the Phila. City Paper: The
House that Jack Built.

The current improviser residents
are Zach Darrup, guitar;
Jim Strong,
invented instruments and cello; and
Asimina Chremos, dancer; and of course Jack Wright, visiting frequently.
Besides these, improvisers coming to Philadelphia for gigs play sessions
at the Spring Garden house on a continuing basis, along the lines of
the earlier No Net weekends. The house has
contributed to a growth of activity in the city. Beginning in 2014 Philadelphia
became the home for a large number of improvisers, looking for a cheap
place to live and play. Among them are two percussionists-- Ben
Bennett, a regular at the house, and
Flandrew Fleisenberg. Alban Bailly, guitarist and cellist who once
lived at the house, has returned to Philadelphia, with more on the way.

The music is without known
structure or mainstream visibility, bold enough to be uncomfortable
with itself. This website opens the door to those who want to look in
on this kind of playing and some of the thought behind it. It is another
room in the house, where questions are raised about the fundamental
direction of our music, and every answer provokes further questions
and doubts. The site is not just for the devotees of this obscure music,
but for all who love music that created in the full spirit of adventure.